Two Yemenis have been detained in the Philippines on suspicion of being involved in terrorism, the regional head of an anti-terrorist task force said here Friday.

Mohammed Anaam Faer and Yahya Bin Ali Qamandar were detained by the military on a boat bound for the southern city of Cotabato from the capital city of Manila on Monday, Colonel Jovenal Narcise said.

He said the pair identified themselves as Islamic missionaries and temporary residents of Cotabato.

They were detained after a tip-off, he said.

Narcise said Qamandar was believed to bear a resemblance to Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, a demolitions expert and suspected terrorist indicted in the United States. He would not provide any further details about Khalid or the charges against him.

Philippine authorities have previously exposed links between foreign Islamic extremists and local Muslim rebels, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf, which is holding numerous foreign and local hostages on southern Jolo Island.

The MILF is the largest Muslim separatist group in the Philippines.

Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York, is believed to have worked with local Muslim extremists here in the early-1990s while plotting a series of bombings and assassinations that were eventually foiled, officials have said -- ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP)